Wednesday, 19 October 2011

Ed Nelson and Craig Wigley from Continental Landscapes and Graham Bromley our project coordinator pictured during todays onsite pre contract meeting. Also present was John Nuttall, Consultant Landscape Architect for Groundwork, who are project managing the construction process. Following the meeting Continental Landscapes are to be formally appointed as contractors for the community grow your own scheme. It is hoped that they can begin construction work within two - four weeks, following the release of planning conditions.

Groundwork, on behalf of Marsh Street Arches and Garden CIC, are responsible for the delivery of the grow your own scheme in their role as:

The Accountable Body, Groundwork will be responsible for issues such as fund raising, fund management, submitting funding bids, drawing down funding and paying contractors. They have confirmed funding from various sources such as; Marks and Spencer, WREN, BBC Communities for Health, Cumbria Waste Management Environmental Trust and NHS Cumbria.

Project Managers, working on behalf of the Marsh Street Arches and Garden CIC, Groundworks responsibility will include among other issues; the provision of landscape design services, producing contract documentation, organising the tendering process, overseeing and supervising all work onsite, inspecting progress and ensuring quality of workmanship.

Following construction of the scheme Marsh Street Arches and Garden Community Interest Company, under an 85 year lease for the land secured from Barrow Borough Council, and with support from our user group, will be responsible for managing and maintaining the scheme for the benefit of its users and the wider community.

Membership of our community grow your own scheme user group includes; local residents, local service providers, local schools, youth organisations, other voluntary groups and the local authority.

You can download a copy of our community grow your own scheme user policy here

We have received confirmation from members of the oral history group, Graham Robinson and Alan Postlethwaite, that due to other committments they do not wish to continue their volunteer work for Marsh Street Arches and Garden CIC following completion of the Our Green Space funded oral history film at the end of this month.

We would like to take this opportunity and thank Graham and Alan for their work and wish them every success in the future. Thank you both.

Parks provide a much needed space for people to take part in organised or informal sports and provide recreational opportunities for those unable or unwilling to join a gym or leisure centre. We all know that a walk in the park can help clear the mind and the mental health benefits of parks and green space are well documented.

Did you know

Potential psychological and mental health benefits from exposure to nature are not limited to exposure in the countryside only; within urban and semi-urban settings, access to green, open spaces can have a beneficial effect.

Nature and Psychological Well-being, Mentality (2003)

There is increasing evidence that access to high quality green spaces can produce measurable improvements to stress levels in a relatively short space of time.

Julia Thrift, Journal of Public Mental Health (2005)

For every 10% increase in green space there was a reduction in health complaints equivalent to a reduction of 5 years age.

Wednesday, 12 October 2011

Inspite of the excellent work of AMCO Amalgamated Construction in conducting minor repairs (repairing and replacing loose and damaged brickwork, removing vegetation growing out of the structure and repointing) to areas of brickwork on Greengate Street bridge structure, as commissioned by Network Rail, the water seeping through Greengate Street bridge structure is visible getting worse, as the videos below will hopefully demonstrate. These weres taken today, 12/10/2011, on the south side of the bridge structure, facing the Green Heart Den.

It has been suggested that as the seepage is visibly worse during and after rainfall that, in all likelihood, the source of the water is from the road surface and/or road drains above on Greengate Street.

Friday, 7 October 2011

The phase one habitat survey, as required as part of the conditions in the planning approval has now been completed to the satisfaction of ecologist Penny Ward.

The planning department has suggested a new clause be added to the land lease in regard the growing of edible foods in the future. This suggested clause has been agreed by the CIC who are awaiting the issue of a new lease agreement to include the amendment.

The new wall, gated entrance and railings have now been completed.

Groundwork, who are project managing the construction phase of the scheme on our behalf, have suggesed that if all goes well; the minor planing approval conditions could be released within the next tow weeks and the scheme could potentially be completed by mid December 2011.

If you have any questions for the Groundwork Project Management Team you can contact them at:

The Common Lizard, is a very useful indicator species of the health of habitats.

There are six native species of reptile in the UK and all receive protection under UK law. Smooth snakes and sand lizards have a highly restricted distribution in the UK and receive full and stringent protection under The Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010 and the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) (as amended).

Slow worms, common lizards, adders and grass snakes are common in the UK and receive partial legal protection under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act: it is illegal to intentionally kill, injure, trade or sell these species.

Wednesday, 5 October 2011

The Love Barrow Awards 2012 nominations are open from today. This is your chance to nominate that special person who goes the extra mile in your community. We are looking for nominations for;

Citizen of the Year - awarded to people who have made an outstanding contribution to Barrow and Furness through their voluntary and/or professional contribution to community life.

Young Citizen of the Year - awarded to a young person aged 18 and under who has made an outstanding contribution to Barrow and Furness through their voluntary and/or professional contribution to community life.

Group/Project of the Year - awarded to a group or project that has made a real difference to the lives of people in the local community through their voluntary and/or professional work.

Teacher of the Year - acknowledges the contribution of those who promote learning in our community in an inspirational way. The nominations can include people from formal and community based settings.

Carer of the Year - to recognise the valuable contribution that carers make to our community, this includes professional or voluntary work and might include nurses, social workers or family carers.

Sports Volunteer of the Year - recognises the outstanding voluntary contribution of individuals who are the lifeblood of our local sporting community.

Environmental Volunteer of the Year - acknowledges theoutstanding voluntary contribution of individuals to maintaining our natural environment and working to promote sustainable living.

The Courage Award - this award seeks to recognise the real depths of courage that ordinary people show in difficult circumstances. This might include acts of bravery by people in the emergency services or ordinary members of the public who are ‘first on the scene’ of emergency or critical situations. It also seeks to recognise the daily courage that people show in facing life’s challenges, such as illness and loss, and the courage of individuals to turn these difficult circumstances into positive action for the good of the community.

Monday, 3 October 2011

Although it is difficult to write words to describe someone during this difficult and tragic time we would like to offer our condolences to the family and friends of Ian Bell, our colleague and friend who tragically passed away at the weekend.
Ian was not just a great asset to the Marsh Street Arches and Garden Community Interest Company, but a lovely person to work with. Ian's easy manner and calm approach, no matter what trials and tribulations we were going through, were a great help to all involved.
Ian's commitment to the project and the wider local community was obvious for all to see. He was a gentleman, and he will be sadly missed.

Sunday, 2 October 2011

It is estimated that approximately 300 people of all age groups attended our FREE autumn hog roast event. The event, funded by Our Green Space, included a hog roast as provided by Hartleys of Dalton, refreshments and entrtainment from local band Sidewalk.

About our blog page

Welcome to the Green Heart Den blog page. It was set up with the intention of hopefully providing a welcoming space where people can find out more about us and to follow our progress. Particularly those who are interested in our project but can not always visit the site. We hope it will also help to raise awareness of our activities to the wider community. Thank you for visiting.

Routine maintenance schedule

The link below details a list of garden maintenance tasks and is provided to act as a guide to assist those individuals, volunteers and organisations involved in maintaining the Green Heart Den garden and grow your own scheme.

Managing Risk

These risk assessments and those for our power tools are available onsite to those who need them. They can also be provided by request here.

We would always encourage others to conduct their own risk assessments

The Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens has produced an excellent guide to health and safety on the garden which aims to provide an overview of steps you can take to help ensure your project is as safe as possible. This can be downloaded here

We Love Barrow

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Thank you for visiting our blog. We hope you will return to follow our progress.